Sometimes, some local athletes competing in college fall through the cracks and I never have a chance to mention them. Not everybody is a superstar or conference champion or All-America.

But there are some great stories out there and one of them is Holly Chambers, a senior at Ursinus who had high school PRs at Kingsway of 2:27.79, 5:29.24 and 11:55.32.

Her first year at Ursinus – the abbreviated 2020 indoor season – she ran 2:32.92 and 5:33.04.

She didn’t race again until the 2021 outdoor season, when she ran 2:31.08 and had a nice breakthrough with 4:57.85 for 1,500 meters – equivalent of a 5:19.80 for 1,600 meters or 5:21.68 for a full mile.

Last year, she PR’d at 2:27.64 for 800 meters and then outdoors last year she dropped all the way down to 2:20.43 and had a huge PR of 4:45.63 in the 1,500 – equivalent of a 5:06.68 for 1,600 or 5:08.48 for a full mile.

She scored in the conference meet in the 1,500 and ran on Ursinus’s 3rd-place 3,200-meter relay team.

Over the last few weeks – the final weeks of her senior year – Chambers PR’d again in both the 800 and 1,500.

She placed 6th in the Centennial Conference Championships on her home track in Collegeville, Pa., with a 4:42.28 – that’s 5:04.86 for a mile – and then this past weekend she broke 2:20 for the first time with a 2:18.86 at Widener.

To go from 2:27.79 and 5:29.24 to 2:18.86 and 5:04.86 is remarkable.

Athletes like Chambers are why you stick with a sport even if you don’t have immediate success or get the results you want. If you keep working, you will get better. Chambers is proof of that.

Ocean City junior Sophia Curtis opened up her first Cape May Championships with another PR and county record in the intermediate hurdles.

Curtis on Thursday afternoon lowered her own county record from 1:01.50 from the South Jersey Elite at Delsea earlier this month to 1:01.14 to win the Cape May title on her home track.

That’s No. 1 in New Jersey this year and No. 24 in South Jersey history for the versatile Padua Academy transfer. It also puts Curtis only 14-100ths of a second off the qualifying standard for the USATF Under-20 Championships in Eugene July 6-9.

Curtis’s time is No. 4 in the U.S. this year according to the MileSplit national database and No. 2 among underclassmen, behind only Michelle Smith of Monteverde (Fla.) Academy, who ran 56.66 at a meet last month in Lubbock, Texas.

Curtis is scheduled to compete in the long jump and triple jump later Thursday. She’s No. 20 in the U.S. in the triple jump with her 40-10 1/4 from the Penn Relays.

Here’s the updated all-time South Jersey 400IH list:

56.83 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2005
59.03 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], 1988
59.56 … Torie Robinson (Winslow Twp.], 2013
59.66 … Mandie Dulin [Shawnee], 1997
1:00.13 … Arianna Smith [Pennsville], 2019
1:00.16 … Aliya Rae Garozzo [Paul VI], 2018
1:00.1h … Danielle Myricks [Willingboro], 2001
1:00.26 … Helena Leyrer [Buena], 2012
1:00.40 … Diamond McLaughlin [Absegami], 2021
1:00.47 … Shaquanda Meylor [Wilson], 2006
1:00.48 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow Twp.], 2012
1:00.55 … Katrina Sye [Buena], 1997
1:00.58 … Andrea Olsen [Buena], 2013
1:00.67 … Meredith Updike [Cinnaminson], 2019
1:00.69 … Kristina Keegan [Haddonfield], 2003
1:00.73 … Pam Richardson [Edgewood]., 2001
1:00.79 … Courtney Smith [Penns Grove], 2014
1:00.8h … Brittany Caserta [Highland], 2003
1:00.90 … Medea Ashton [Washington Twp.], 1999
1:01.0h … Eusheka Bartley [Highland], 1992
1:01.04 … Tynisha Revels [Camden], 1999
1:01.07 … Amirah Sharpe [Clayton], 2022
1:01.1h … Zonya Cross [Edgewood], 1983
1:01.14 … Brooke Kott [Millville], 2009
1:01.14 … Okechi Ogbuokiri [Willingboro], 1995
1:01.14 … Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 2023
1:01.23 … Brianna Snowden [Rancocas Valley], 2019
1:01.25 … Carly Pettipaw [Lenape], 2015
1:01.29 … Morgan Gantt [Winslow Twp.], 2002
1:01.3h … Vernick Smith [Wilson], 1998
1:01.32 … Brittany Preston [Winslow Twp.], 2016
1:01.35 … Thaila Cooper [Kingsway], 2015
1:01.41 … Aliya Rae Garozzo [Paul VI], 2018
1:01.42 … Natalie Edwards [Pleasantville], 1995
1:01.46 … Jewel Ash [Eastern], 2019
1:01.49 … Mary Bohi [Seneca], 2009

The Big East pole vault title is back where it belongs. In the hands of Delsea graduate Ashley Preston.

The Villanova senior won the pole vault at her first three Big East meets – indoors and outdoors in 2019, indoors in 2020 and then outdoors in 2021 after the shutdown ended. But then she was 2nd in the 2021 outdoor meet, 2022 indoor and outdoor meets and 2023 indoor meets.

Preston placed 2nd to UConn’s Emma Chee outdoors in 2021, indoors in 2022 and outdoors in 2022 and indoors this past February to another UConn vaulter, Kalli Knott.

This past weekend at her home facility in Radnor, Pa., Preston reclaimed the Big East title, winning her 4th conference championship with a 12-8 ¼ clearance. She and another UConn vaulter – Sofia Wittman – both cleared 12-8 ¼ but Preston got over the bar on her first attempt and Wittman on her second.

Preston is the 10th Villanova athlete to win four Big East titles in the same event and the first to win four pole vault championships.

Preston has a PR of 13-3 ¾ from a meet at Franklin Field in April 2021, and she’s been over 13 feet twice this spring – 13-1 ½ at a meet last month in Charlottesville, Va., and 13-2 ½ last month at the Penn Relays, where she placed 5th.

Preston is No. 3 in Villanova history indoors with a 13-3 ¼ at the 2020 indoor Big East meet and No. 3 outdoors with her 13-3 ¾.

Northern Burlington soph Liliah Gordon broke 5 minutes in the 1,600 for the first time Wednesday night at the Holmdel Twilight Series Royal Rumble.

Gordon, running in a mixed race, was the first girl across the line in 4:58.91. Her previous PR was a 5:04.20 full mile at Ocean Breeze in February, the equivalent of a 5:02.44 for 1,600 meters.

Gordon has been one of New Jersey’s best distance runners since the start of her freshman year. She placed 8th at the XC Meet of Champions as a freshman and ran 18:29 at Holmdel and then ran 10:49.55 for the full two miles indoors. She won another state XC title this past fall and then ran 10:38.20 for the 3,200 at the Meet of Champions and earned All-America honors indoors after running 17:26.55 for 5,000 meters (No. 14 in state history) and placing 3rd at Armory Nationals.

She hasn’t had many opportunities to run a fast 1,600, but with perfect conditions and other runners to work off, she became the fourth New Jersey girl this year to break five minutes. Her 4:58.91 is No. 3 in the state, behind Hausman, the Meet of Champions XC runner-up, and Miami-bound Somerville senior Maddie Scheier. They ran 4:54.03 and 4:56.83 last weekend in the same race at Ridge.

Gordon broke the Burlington County sophomore record of 4:59.60, set in 2004 by Willingboro’s Brittnee Bynoe and moved into the No. 8 spot on the all-time Burlington County list.

Gordon was already No. 7 in New Jersey in the 3,200 with her 10:49.76 for 3,200 meters at Cherokee Night of Racing. She’s No. 2 in the 3,000 with 9:57.23 at Penn.

Here’s a look at the all-time Burlington County Top-10
4:48.82y … Nicole Clifford [Cherokee], 2022
4:52.95 … Caitlin Orr (Lenape), 2009
4:55.66 … Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 2012
4:56.01 … Natalia Ocasio (Lenape), 2010
4:56.08 … Megan Quimby [Lenape], 2016
4:56.81 … Julia Despirito [Shawnee], 2014
4:57.96 … Erika Kemp [Rancocas Valley] 2013
4:58.91 … Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 2023
4:59.60 … Brittnee Bynoe (Willingboro), 2004
5:00.14y … Lisa Burkholder (Cherokee), 2003

Williamstown senior Ciara Demarest moved into the No. 10 spot in South Jersey history in the shot put with a massive PR Wednesday night at the Tri-County Conference Championships.

Demarest threw 44-8 to win the shot at Delsea, and her throw is No. 3 in New Jersey this year and No. 2 in Gloucester County history, behind only Delsea’s Janiece Rose, who threw 46-4 at the 2011 Rowan Open in Glassboro.

Demarest toppled a very good school record of 44-2 ½ set by Typhanie Bates, who threw 44-2 ½ to win the 1995 state Group 3 meet in South Plainfield and help Williamstown win its first state title since 1982.

Demarest’s 44-8 is the best throw by a South Jersey girl since Schalick’s Zyra Thomas hit 46-0 ¼ at 2018 New Balance Nationals in Greensboro.

State-wide, she trails only Livingston sophomore Jessica Oji [46-1] and Old Tappan junior Layla Giordano [45-6].

Going into Wednesday night, Demarest had an outdoor PR of 42-2 from last weekend’s Gloucester County Championships at Deptford. She threw 42-11 ¼ at Ocean Breeze in January.

Demarest opened with a 39-9 and followed with a 41-1 before hitting her 44-8 on her 3rd and final throw.

Clayton junior Maylisa Bluford PR’d at 38-5 1/2 for 2nd place. Her previous best was 35-8 3/4 at Fast Times at Cherokee last month.

Demarest has won every meet she’s entered this year with the exception of the South Jersey Open, where she finished seven inches behind Willingboro sophomore Chanel Swain.

Demarest also won the discus Wednesday night with a throw of 126-5. She has a PR of 138-3 from a meet at Delsea last spring. She ranks 5th in New Jersey with her season-best 127-8 from Woodbury this year.

All-Time South Jersey Shot Put List
47-1 ¼ … Jessica Woodard [Cherokee], 2013
46-4 ……… Janiece Rose [Delsea], 2011
46-1 ½ … Nacole Moore [Bridgeton], 2000
46-0 ¼ … Zyra Thomas [Schalick], 2018
45-7 ½ … Ronetta Hunter [Burlington Twp.], 2015
45-5 ……… Sylvia Galarza [Millville], 2004
44-9 ¾ … Najeaya Singleton [Vineland], 2016
44-9 ……… Kim Warren [Atlantic City], 2006
44-9 ……… Lola Agabalogun [Egg Harbor], 2013
44-8 ……… Ciara Demarest [Williamstown], 2023
44-5 ¼ …. Melinda Boykin [Bridgeton], 1998
44-5 ……… Jamine Moton [Delsea], 1997
44-4 ¼ …. Dana White [Camden], 2000
44-3 …. Jocelyn White [Delsea], 2004
44-2 ½ …. Typhanie Bates [Williamstown], 1995
44-0 ¾ …. Mercedes Hicks [Atlantic City], 2006
43-11 … Donovan Bennett [Vineland], 2015
43-11 … Cydney Thomas [Haddon Heights], 2019
43-8 ¾…. Janet Morris [Kingsway], 1991
43-7 …..… Shamire Rothmiller [Glassboro], 2008
43-6 ¾ … Angela Solomon [Overbook], 1989
43-6 ¾ … Talita Silva [Bridgeton], 2003
43-4 ½ … Rose Perry [Riveride], 2003
43-2 ½ … Lacole Fields [Camden], 1996

Woodbury junior Peyton Shute moved up to 5th on the all-time Gloucester County 1,600 list and into the all-time South Jersey top-20 and won a fast race with Haddon Heights’ Jack Bolling and Haddonfield’s George Andrus Wednesday night at Haddonfield.

Shute ran 4:12.06 at the Haddonfield Invitational at Haddonfield, fastest in New Jersey this year and fastest by any New Jersey Group 1 runner since Drew Maher of Shore Regional ran 4:08.80 to win the 2018 Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.

It’s 2nd-fastest all-time by a South Jersey Group 1 miler, behind Luke Petela’s 4:11.78 for Haddon Township at the 2015 Camden County Championships on his home track. Bolling PR’d at 4:14.52 and Andrus was 3rd in 4:15.48.

Shute’s previous PR was a 4:13.77 from the South Jersey Elite at Delsea earlier this month.

Shute, Bolling and Andrus now rank No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 in New Jersey this year. Andrus ran 4:15.31 earlier this month at South Jersey Elite.

Two more Haddonfield runners – senior Robert DiMedio [4:23.68] and sophomore Bennett Wright [4:25.77] – PR’d in 4th and 5th.

All-Time South Jersey 1,600 List
4:07.07y … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2009
4:08.58 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2021
4:08.67y … Seth Clevenger [Haddonfield], 2022
4:08.7y ….. Mike Elder [Haddon Twp.], 1973
4:09.19 … John Richardson [Ocean City], 2003
4:09.30 … Colin Baker [Haddonfield], 2009
4:10.24y ….. Mike Mantini [Gateway], 1979
4:10.97 … George Andrus [Haddonfield], 2022
4:11.07 … Xavier Fraction [Washington Twp.], 2009
4:11.15 … Ryan Garvin [Lenape], 2009
4:11.46 … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], 2010
4:11.49 … Jim Wyner [Mainland Reg.], 2004
4:11.69 … Shawn Wilson [Cherokee], 2013
4:11.78 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:11.84 … Tom Cooke [Kingsway], 2012
4:11.86y … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
4:12.05y … Murad Campbell [Overbrook], 1999
4:12.06 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2023
4:12.08 … Bill Dolan [Clearview], 2014
4:12.1y ….. Al Harden [Millville], 1978
4:12.3y ….. Ed Blakeley [Haddon Twp.], 1975
4:12.5y ….. Dick Caton [Woodbury], 1978
4:13.23 … Justin Branco [Delsea], 2015
4:13.1y … Ricky Jacques [Burlington Twp.], 1968
4:13.26y … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield], 2015
4:13.46 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2019
4:13.4y … Greg Stremmel [Gateway[, 1973
4:13.4y … Jason DiJoseph [Paul VI], 1988
4:13.71 … Dominick Munson [Timber Creek], 2015
4:13.83 … Carmen Cavella [Washington Twp.], 2003
4:13.85 … Jacob Clark [Pleasantville], 2013
4:14.1y … Charles McCarthy [Paul VI], 1972
4:14.14 … Ben Potts [Haddonfield], 2009
4:14.25 … Matt Nussbaum [Haddonfield], 2010
4:14.3y … Jim Smith [Haddonfield], 1980
4:14.50 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2003
4:14.52 … Jack Bolling [Haddon Heights], 2023
4:14.60 … Matt Poskus [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:14.8y … Ed McGowan [Highland], 1972
4:14.8y … Vance Watson [Willingboro], 1982
4:14.8y … Greg Hughes [Mainland Reg.], 2004
4:14.9h … Jeff Boyer [Camden], 1983
4:15.0y … Bob Marino [Williamstown], 1975
4:15.0y … Bradley Pomeroy [Cherry Hill East], 1977
4:15.0y … Dan Gough [Haddonfield], 1987
4:15.12 … Owen Long [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:15.14 … Fred Sharpe [Paulsboro], 1997
4:15.19 … Mark Sivieri [St. Augustine], 1990
4:15.26 … Patrick Ditmars [Cherokee], 2022
4:15.28 … Jon Anderson [Cinnaminson], 2004
4:15.35 … Steve Mazur [Highland], 1992
4:15.44 … Jeff Davis [Cumberland Reg.], 1985
4:15.44 … Brian Tetreault [Cinnaminson], 2007
4:15.49 … Steve Burkholder [Cherokee], 2010
4:15.51 … Robert Edwards [Bridgeton], 2002
4:15.52 … Derek Gess [Haddonfield], 2018
4:15.52 … Ethan Wechsler [Cherokee], 2019

Bridgeton’s Shamar Love, Sterling’s Jah’mere Beasley, Parsippany’s Nana Agyemang and Kingsway’s Evan Corcoran destroyed the school record and meet record and moved Rowan into the all-time NCAA Division 3 top-10 in the 400-meter relay Wednesday.

Love, Beasley, Agyemang and Corcoran won the 400-meter relay at the AARTFC Championships at Doug Arthur Stadium at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., in 40.37.

Their time is No. 2 in NCAA Division 3 this year, behind Wisconsin-LaCrosse, which ran 40.07 last month at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.

The only NCAA Division 3 schools that have run faster than Rowan are New Jersey City (2005, 2006), Wesley (2016), LaCrosse (2002, 2015, 2021, 2023), Benedictine (2022), Wisconsin Oshkosh (2022), Lincoln (2000, 2002), East Texas Baptist (2022), Mount Union (2006) and McMurry (2012).

Including multiple performances by those schools, Rowan’s time is 20^th-fastest ever record by an NCAA Division 3 school.

Rowan shattered the school record of 40.71 set last weekend by the same quartet in a meet at Widener. Before that, the record was 40.82 run by Ed Fortune from Queens, N.Y., Millville’s Matt Davis, Highland’s Jorge Santiago and Camden’s Tyree Jackson at the 2003 NCAA Division 3 Championships in Canton, N.Y.

So both school-record teams were 75 percent South Jersey.

Rowan broke the meet record of 41.24 set by the Profs at the 2018 meet in Brockport, N.Y., with Julian Pratt of Camden, Kingsway’s Steven Jones, West Deptford’s Shai Mumford and Jonathan Ramirez of Memorial of West New York (N.J.), and broke the stadium record of 41.74 set by a Bucknell team that included Egg Harbor Township’s Alex Dessoye at the 2018 Jim Taylor Invitational.

The performance locks Rowan into a spot at the NCAA Division 3 National Championships, scheduled for May 25-27 at Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the St. John Fisher campus in Rochester, N.Y.

In the same race, Stockton – with Bordentown graduate Carson Latham, Barnegat’s Ryan Fisher, Oakcrest’s Dontay Turner and Lower Cape May’s Anthony Gentile – placed 5th with a school-record 41.85. The previous school record was 41.99 set last year by Latham, Pennsauken’s Devante Greene, Clearview’s Aidan Burns and Fisher.

Corcoran (10.63), Beasley (10.75), Latham (10.78) and Love (10.83) all came back a few minutes later and qualified for tomorrow’s 100 final

Ursinus junior Isabelle Deal from Washington Township recorded the 2nd-best javelin throw in NCAA Division 3 this year Wednesday and one of the top 20 in D-3 history.

On Day 1 of the AARTFC Championships at Doug Arthur Stadium at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., Deal threw a meet-record 155-0 on her first attempt.

Deal also moved onto the all-time NCAA Division 3 performance list at No. 17. The only D-3 woman ahead of her this year is Avery Decker of Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, Neb., who threw 158-11 at the American Rivers Conference Championships this past weekend at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Her throw puts her at No. 54 among all U.S. women. She broke the meet record of 147-0 set in 1992 by Carrie Gorton of SUNY Brockport (N.Y.) at Ithaca. The AARTFC Championships – All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Championships – carries over records from the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championships, held through 2017.

Deal’s previous PR was a 148-6 from last month at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton. She won the Centennial Conference title earlier this month with a 140-5 in Collegeville.

There is a former South Jersey athlete still ahead of Deal on the all-time NCAA Division 3 list. Mercedes Glover of Rutgers-Newark, who ranks No. 13 all-time at 156-5 from the 2015 ECAC Championships in Springfield, Mass., graduated from Burlington Township.

With her No. 6 ranking coming into the meet, Deal was already locked into a spot at the NCAA Division 3 National Championships, scheduled for May 25-27 at Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the St. John Fisher campus in Rochester, N.Y.

Deal is already a 2-time NCAA Division 3 All-America with an 8th-place finish in 2021 in Greensboro and a 6th-place last year in Geneva, Ohio.

After her record-setting opening throw, Deal hit 129-5 and then popped three straight 140-footers – 142-11, 144-8 and 140-7 – before fouling on her final attempt. Her average throw went 142-6 – just six feet shy of her previous PR.

Deal won by over 12 feet over Erin Miller of Elizabethtown, who threw 142-5 on her 6th and final attempt.

Tireless Rancocas Valley junior Lauren Fadairo swept the three jumps Saturday at the Burlington County Open, becoming the first girl to record that unique triple at a County Open.

Fadairo won the long jump with a 16-9 ¾ jump – just 2 ½ inches off her PR from last weekend’s South Jersey Open at Delsea – and won the triple jump at 35-11. She tied her high jump PR of 5-0, which she cleared this winter at the Bubble.

Moorestown sophomore I’Mara Ford placed 2nd in all three jumps.

Fadairo won the high jump on fewer misses. Fadairo clear 5-0 on her first attempt, Ford on her 2nd. Ford placed 2nd in the long jump with a 16-7 1/4 on her final jump and hit 35-4 1/4 for 2nd in the triple. Ford is the No. 2 soph in New Jersey in the triple jump with her 38-1 1/4 at the Lenape Invitational

Fadairo isn’t the first athlete to win the jumps triple. Seneca’s Drew Kanz did it in the 2009 boys meet with 20-10 ¾, 43-3 and a meet-record 7-1. He also won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.64 for the only quad win in meet history and one of the greatest single-day performances in South Jersey hsitory.

Fadairo joins two New Jersey track all-timers as only the third Rancocas Valley girl to triple at a County Open.

Tonya Lee, who competed in the intermediate hurdles in the 1996 Olympic Trials, recorded quad wins as a sophomore (1:03.4 intermediates, 15.8 highs, 5-4 high jump, 18-4 long jump) and junior (1:02.2, 15.3, 5-4, 17-7 ¼) and future WNBA star Demya Walker tripled the long jump, high jump and 100 (17-10 ½, 5-0, 12.2) in 1995.

Other R.V. girls who’ve doubled at the County Open: Sydnee Pierce in 2010 (100, long jump), Sheriyah Nutt in 2019 (100, 200) and Cecilia King this year (100 hurdles, 400 hurdles).

Rancocas Valley won its fifth consecutive County Open title. The meet wasn’t completed in 2018 and wasn’t held in 2020, so R.V. hasn’t lost a County Open since 2016, when they were 2nd to Lenape.

Winslow Township’s John Purvis, a junior at Morgan State, won his third MEAC conference title this weekend.

Purvis threw the shot 55-2 – only five inches shy of his PR – to win evenet at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference at Norfolk (Va.) State.

Purvis also won the shot at the 2021 outdoor conference meet in Greensboro with a 54-2 ¾ and the indoor shot this past winter with a 54-2 ½ in Virginia Beach.

Purvis set his shot put PR of 55-7 indoors at last year’s MEAC meet in Virginia Beach, when he placed 2nd to teammate Zackery Dillon’s 56-0.

On Saturday, Purvis was sitting in 5th place with a best throw of 51-8 ¼ before he hit 55-2 on his 5th attempt of the competition to pass four other throwers and move into the lead.

Purvis was also 6th in the discus with a throw of 151-4, just 15 inches shy of his PR of 152-7.